CIMARRON – The Cimarron Lady Bluejays opened up their part of the Bluejay Invitational in grand fashion as they allowed only one Deerfield field goal in the first half on the way to a 76-19 victory

The Bluejays used their press and man defense and turned them into points on the other end of the court to build a 41-8 lead by halftime.

Cimarron head coach David Ediger wasn't pleased with his first team at the start of the game. The Lady Bluejays were fouling and not ready to play, so he sent an entire new five in and that squad helped push the margin from three points to 14-3 by the end of the stanza.

"I was pleased with our second five at the beginning," Ediger said. "Our starting five didn't come ready to play hard and get after it. Our second group did an excellent job in getting after it and giving up energy and did the things I wanted executed. They made things pretty easy when they did the things I wanted them to do."

"He expects us to play just as hard as the first team, but just to get better at it," said Eva Koopman, who scored 13 points to lead Cimarron's bench. "The speed has improved and we've played much faster. We've got some height, too; but we can break down the court and go fast to play defense."

Cimarron's first squad came back out and outscored the Lady Spartans 27-5 in the second quarter. Ediger said part of the reason why Deerfield only had one field goal in the half and five for the game was because the Lady Bluejays were fouling and putting their opponents on the line.

Four players scored in double figures for Cimarron (2-0): Ashtynn Burns 18, Morgan Ediger 15, Koopman and Katie White came off the bench to add 10.

Hailey Novack scored 13 points to lead Deerfield (0-2).

Cimarron will play the winner of Tuesday's Sublette/Wichita County showdown in a semifinal game Friday night, while Deerfield will face the loser of the game in a consolation game at the Cimarron Old Gymnasium.